Weekend Box Office
1) I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry $34 million
2) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix $32 million
3) Hairspray $27 million
4) Transformers $20 million
5) Ratatouille $11 million
6) Live Free or Die Hard $7.3 million
7) License to Wed $3.7 million
8) 1408 $2.6 million
9) Evan Almighty $2.4 million
10) Knocked Up $2.3 million
It took two muggles, both pretending to be gay firemen, to knock Harry off his quiditch broom. That's right, this weekend, folks were looking for a good laugh more than they were looking for some stodgy English witchery drama. I don't know exactly how funny it is, but the lump some that I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry pulled in is no laughing matter. The "Adam Sandler goes gay" comedy culled a nifty $34 million. Not his highest opening to date, but a good one nonetheless.
Don't worry too much about Harry. He seemed quiet capable of taking care of himself. He, and the rest of the wizards at Hogwarts, weren't trailing very far behind the top grosser. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix took in a close second with $32 million. To date, the film has made $207 million. Not bad for a bunch of little kids in scarves.
The other big contender this weekend didn't do so badly for itself, either. The remake of John Waters' Hairspray managed to earn a little more than $27 million. That's outstanding for a musical, and you can consider it a hit. Good word of mouth will see this one lingering around the mid-section of the top ten for weeks to come.
Sunshine, Danny Boyle's latest sci-fi extravaganza, didn't fare too badly. It failed to register on the list with a proper number, making only $235,000. That's a pretty good take, considering it was only released in ten theaters nationwide.
Next weekend, Adam and Harry are going to face their biggest competition when the go up against Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie in The Simpsons Movie. Also opening next weekend is the werewolf drama Skinwalkers and the afro-tastic Who's Your Caddy. I can't wait for that fight.